Political Science American Government and Politics

Chapter 14

Domestic and Economic Policy

14-1

Five Steps in the Policy Making Process

• agenda building – identifying a problem and getting it on the agenda

• agenda formulations – the debate that occurs between government officials, and between the public in the media, and in campaigns

14-1b

Five Steps in the Policy Making Process (cont.)

• agenda adoption – the selection of a strategy for addressing a problem

• agenda implementation – the administration of the selected policy (by bureaucrats, the courts, etc.)

• agenda evaluation – when the public, officials and groups determine if the selected policy has the desired impact

14-2

Six Models of the Policy Making Process

• Bureaucratic Politics Model – policy is the result of competition by groups and bureaucracies, who determine the agenda and implement policy

• Power Elite Model – elites determine the agenda and policy

• Marxist Model – ruling class controls the policy process and implements policies detrimental to the working class interest

14-2b

Six Models of the Policy Making Process (cont.)

• Incremental Model – stresses the small changes that result in the evolution of policy

• Rationalist Model – theoretical model where individuals make policy to suit their own best interest

• Systems Model – stresses the role of institutions in the policy process

14-3

Defining Poverty

• low income poverty threshold in 2000 was $17,500 for a family of four

• the poverty level has changed since then to account for changes in the consumer price index, which enables the government to adjust the poverty level by taking into account changes in prices of goods and services

• the official poverty level is based on pre-tax income, but does include in-kind subsidies, like food stamps and subsidized housing

14-4

The Official Number of Poor in the United States

14-5Welfare Spending and the Poverty Rate

14-6

Major Government Assistance Programs

• Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) –replaced AFDC in 1996, this program uses federal funds which are administered by the states to help needy families.

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – provides a minimum income to the elderly and disabled who do not qualify for Social Security benefits.

14-6b

Major Government Assistance Programs (cont.)

• Food Stamps – these coupons that can be used to purchase food are now distributed to more than 28 million Americans with little or no income

• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – a tax credit used by low income workers who get back part or all pf the their Social Security taxes

14-7

The Crime Index

14-8

Changes in Violent Crimes Rates from 1970 to Present

14-9

Economic Policy Making

• Fiscal Policy – the use of changes in government spending or taxation to change national economic variables, like the unemployment rate– Keynesian Economic Theory posits that using

fiscal policy can alter economic variables (increasing government

14-9b

Economic Policy Making (cont.)

– spending during economic turn downturns, for example)

• Monetary Policy – the use of changes in the money supply to change credit markets, unemployment and the inflation rate– Monetary policy is determined by the Federal

Open Market Committee (FOMC), part of the Federal Reserve System

14-10

The Public Debt and the Disappearing Deficit

• the deficit is when the government spends more money than it receives in any given year

• the public debt is the total amount of debt carried by the federal government, also called the national debt

14-11

The Deficit Disappears

14-12

Per Capita Public Debt of the United States in Constant 1992 Dollars